Ford Building Cars That Talk To Other Cars 239
thecarchik writes "Ford's new system works over a dedicated short-range WiFi system on a secure channel allocated by the FCC. The company says the system one-ups radar safety systems by allowing full 360-degree coverage even when there's no direct line of sight. Scenarios where this could benefit safety or traffic? Predicting collision courses with unseen vehicles, seeing sudden stops before they're visible, and spotting traffic pattern changes on a busy highway. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported in October that vehicle-to-vehicle warning systems could address nearly 80 percent of reported crashes not involving drunk drivers. As such, it could potentially save tens of thousands of lives per year."
Re:These systems which preach safety and security. (Score:5, Interesting)
Exploit 'em.
Crack 'em, hack 'em, exploit 'em...
Wipe 'em off, and do it again....
This will be a blackhat's paradise.
Forget about talking to cars -Talk2 traffic lights (Score:5, Interesting)
There's few things more irritating to me than waiting for a red light when there are no other vehicles at an intersection.
All I want is a simple way to communicate to the traffic light to let it know that I am approaching so I don't have to stop. It seems that most automatic lights I have encountered wait until I have come to a near full stop - which partially defeats the purpose.
Implement this and then BAM - instant time savings and 3+ Miles per gallon savings for every vehicle on the road.
Re:Big traffic cop is watching (Score:3, Interesting)
That was my thought to, but after thinking some more, there's a pretty easy solution.
Whenever the car starts, generate a random ID that's statistically certain to be unique. All the short term benefits of a unique identifier without the long term privacy risks.
Of course the devil would be in the details and I am way not qualified to speak on what it would take to ensure privacy with that kind of system. But it seems possible.
Re:Big traffic cop is watching (Score:3, Interesting)
You live in New Orleans and don't see sidewalks? I've spent a fair amount of time in New Orleans, most recently a few weeks ago when I accompanied my wife and daughter to the Joint Mathematics Meeting where 20,000 Hurricane-fueled math geeks wandered sweaty and glazed on those sumptuous sidewalks along Bourbon St.
Here in Chicago, sidewalks are where life happens. I grew up playing on the sidewalks off of Taylor Street in Little Italy, watched my sister play chalk-drawn games and and today I walk my dog along the sidewalks of Hyde Park, Lincoln Park, Humboldt Park. On the sidewalks I buy tamales, elotes, and in the summer fantastic hotdogs. You can hear first rate musicians (and some not so first-rate) on the sidewalks around Grant Park and Michigan Ave. I met my wife on the sidewalk at Halsted and Webster, waiting for the southbound bus. There are several sidewalks that I got to when they were fresh-poured and still bear my mark.
If you live in one of the great American cities (or great European cities or great South American cities or great Asian cities) it's the sidewalks where it's all going on. On the rare occasions when I visit one of the suburbs to see one of my poor relations, I find the lack of sidewalks disturbing in the extreme. A house without a sidewalk in front looks sad and isolated. It's the sidewalks that tie those of us who have the good fortune to share these urban settings together.
Re:HOW TO END 95% OF ALL TRAFFIC CRASHES (Score:5, Interesting)
I note that according to you, speeding isn't involved. Ever.
No, it's just not one of the primary contributors to road accidents. And not just 'according to him', research long ago established that the 85th percentile by speed were the safest drivers, slower drivers were more dangerous and the very fastest drivers were the most dangerous, at least where speed-related accidents are concerned.
But, hey, feel free to ignore reality if you like.